Edit: The terms and conditions only state that you must book between the promotional dates. The stay could perhaps be outside of this period as well.

Points + Cash basically means that you can exchange 5,000 points per night for $40 or 10,000 points for $70. IHG Rewards Club actually sells you the points and then withdraws the full amount from your account. These are considered award nights and have the same availability.

You can only get the 5,000 bonus points back once.

Rate example for InterContinental Hong Kong

You have two options: 40,000 points + $40 or 35,000 + $70. By choosing either one of these option, you could get the additional 5,000 points.

Conclusion

IHG Rewards Club’s Points + Cash is essentially just buying points at 0.8 cents (by choosing the 5,000 points option) or at 0.7 cents (at 10,000 points level). This offer makes this even sweeter by throwing in another 5,000 points for free.

Here are the terms and conditions of this offer:

To qualify to receive your bonus you must book a Points and Cash stay between 4/15/14 and 7/15/14. After qualifying, please allow 4 weeks for bonus points to post to your account. To be eligible for this bonus offer, account must be open and not in default at the time of fulfillment. This one-time bonus offer is valid only for members who are recipients of this email.

Advance reservations are required.

Each reward is valid only for a double or king room for one night and tax. Reward Night reservations may be booked for multiple hotel rooms (less than 10) on the same stay date at the same property provided the IHG® Rewards Club member number is recorded on each reservation and the required points are redeemed for each room. Rooms are limited, subject to prior sale and availability of allocated resources and may be unavailable during high demand periods.

Reward Night rooms do not include food and beverages, gratuities or incidentals. These charges are to be paid directly to the hotel prior to check-out. Transportation costs to and from the hotel are not included.

IHG® Rewards Club reserves the right to restrict, suspend, modify or substitute the Reward Nights program at any time without notice.

Participating hotels may be added or deleted from any brand or destination category while this offer lasts. The rewards are void where prohibited by law.

IHG® Rewards Club points or airline miles are not awarded for the room rate equivalent on Reward Night stays; however, points are awarded for all other eligible charges to the member’s room except at InterContinental Hotels and Resorts. Reward Night stays are defined as those in which a member redeems points for a Reward Night.

Reward Night reservations are not travel agent commissionable. Reward Nights, in-hotel redemptions, redeemable gift vouchers and merchandise may not be sold or used for commercial gains.

Point values for any hotel or destination may change at any time. Points have no value until presented for redemption by the member.

IHG® Rewards Club members who cancel their Reward Night reservation will have their points used for that reservation re-deposited into the member’s IHG® Rewards Club account, and may be subjected to a processing fee. IHG® Rewards Club members who do not cancel their Reward Night reservation by the cancellation deadline and do not use their reservation (no-show) are still subject to a no-show charge for the first night of the reservation, plus tax, per room, billed to the credit card used to guarantee the reservation upon booking. The points redeemed for the no-showed Reward Night reservation will be re-deposited into the member’s IHG® Rewards Club account.

IHG® Rewards Club members may redeem points for Reward Nights by calling the IHG® Rewards Club Service Center in their region or by reserving the Reward Nights online at www.ihgrewardsclub.com. Members must be logged in to redeem points online for a Reward Night. Reward Night reservations require a credit card to guarantee the reservation. Reward Night reservations can be cancelled online but cannot be modified.

IHG® Rewards Club PointBreaks are a feature of Reward Nights. Point Breaks are Reward Nights priced at 5,000 points at selected hotels for a limited period of time, instead of the standard redemption rate. IHG® Rewards Club PointBreaks Reward Nights are based on availability and PointBreaks locations may be added or deleted at any time.

Last Minute Reward Nights are a feature of Reward Nights. Last Minute Reward Nights are Reward Nights available at up to 50% off the standard Reward Night redemption rates at selected hotels for a very limited period of time, which will vary by offer. Last Minute Reward Nights are based on availability and Last Minute Reward Night locations may be added or deleted at any time. All other Reward Night terms and conditions apply.

IHG® Rewards Club “Points & Cash” is an option for obtaining a Reward Night. You may choose to redeem IHG® Rewards Club points for a Reward Night in three ways: using your existing points for all required points for the desired Reward Night; using your existing points and 5,000 points purchased for US $40 to total the required points; or using your existing points and 10,000 points purchased for US $70 to total the required points. The total purchase on any single day may not exceed $280 US. Points & Cash Reward Nights may only be redeemed online at www.ihgrewardsclub.com. Point purchase amounts are subject to change by PCR. You must use a valid credit card for points purchase. Upon completion of the points purchase, you agree that the total dollar amount will be immediately charged to the credit card you specified. The cost for the points purchased is non-refundable. If the Reward Night is cancelled in accordance with these Terms & Conditions and with each hotel’s cancellation policy, the purchased IHG® Rewards Club points will be re-deposited into your IHG® Rewards Club account. Cash components of this award that are paid in currencies other than U.S. dollars will be adjusted by IHG® Rewards Club, as needed, to reflect the USD equivalent of the non-USD payment at that time. All other Reward Night terms and conditions apply.

[…] If IHG Rewards Club (or Six Continent Hotels) truly feels that the problem is members signing up for promotions that they are not targeted for, they could easily make them account specific as they have done with number of promotions recently such as the getting points back for making Points + Cash reservation (read more here). […]